Chapter 1

I fell asleep amid the pain of multiple fractures throughout my leg, all while listening to the flirting coming from the hospital ward next door.

In my semi-conscious state, I seemed to see Christian Goodman pacing back and forth next to my hospital bed.

Later on, a banging on the door woke me from my sleep.

"Pack your things and follow me back to Rivera Manor, Raelyn. Grandpa wants to see you."

That was my boyfriend Johan Rivera's voice. He had always been so impatient with me.

I forced myself to get out of bed and open the door for him.

Upon opening the door, I was greeted with his disdainful expression.

"Would you look at that? You can still get out of bed and walk around," he said in annoyance. "I guess the car accident wasn't serious, and you're just faking it."

I frowned subconsciously, wanting very much to vent my anger on him.

There was a sudden scream from the ward next door. "Ouch! My leg hurts, Johan!"

Johan immediately became nervous, and he didn't even try to hide his reaction from me.

A moment later, I watched blankly as Johan came out of the ward next door with his first love, Lucy Sherman, in his arms.

"Didn't I tell you not to get out of bed and move around recklessly? I can just carry you wherever you want to go instead," Johan admonished her.

As the two of them passed me, Lucy smiled with a gentle look in her eyes. "Johan always spoils me like this, Raelyn. Sorry for making such a fool of myself in front of you."

Johan hugged her tightly upon hearing this and said coldly to me, "Hurry up and pack your things. I'm heading back to the manor first, so just hail a taxi later. Lucy's always been afraid of the cold, so I don't have the time to spare waiting for you."

I stood alone in the corridor for a long time. It wasn't until a burst of cold air blew past that I came back to my senses.

I shivered before forcing myself to hobble back into the hospital ward and sit down. I honestly didn't have the strength to pack my things.

Memories flashed through my mind, making my head hurt.

I recalled the first time I ever met Johan, when he smashed everything in Rivera Manor to pieces.

The sight of him behaving so hysterically had frightened me so much that all my hair stood on end. I would never forget the sight, especially the moment he turned to glare at me with bloodshot eyes.

Back then, he had fallen out with Scott Rivera—his grandfather—and sworn a vicious oath. "I'll never marry Raelyn Kirchner! If I ever do, I'll die a terrible death!"

He was a man who was practically favored by the gods, so he probably thought that he and I were far too different from each other.

The Kirchners and the Riveras used to be old-time acquaintances. After a huge fire had taken my family from me, it was Scott who took me in and raised me.

The engagement between Johan and I had been arranged by our families long ago, but now, it seemed like we weren't a good match for each other.

From the age of 18, I had lived under their roof for five whole years.

I sighed, not wanting to continue putting up with my situation anymore.

Suddenly, my phone rang—Christian was calling me.

He and I were high school classmates, and he had been pursuing me ever since he first became my deskmate.

However, due to my engagement to Johan, Christian had constantly been at odds with him.

Whenever I got just a little too close to Christian, he would suffer bullying and oppression from Johan due to his status as a poor student.

Because of that, I had always chosen to keep my distance from Christian.

It wasn't until our last class reunion that Christian, who had already evolved from a poor student to a new upstart in the business world, said something to me after getting drunk.

His eyes were shining when he told me half-jokingly, "Since you haven't gotten married to Johan even after being engaged to him for so many years, how about you enter into a contract marriage with me?

"It'd be perfect to curb my parents from urging me to get married."

I came back to my senses right then. Even though I was still hesitating, my hand had already reached for my phone.

"Is your leg injury better now?" asked Christian on the other end.

His voice was as charming as ever, and his first concern was my injury.

Not long afterward, he appeared in the doorway of the hospital ward I was in.

There was snow piled up on his head, but there was also a layer of sweat on his forehead. It was obvious that he had hurried all the way here.

When I agreed to enter into a contract marriage with him, he looked as happy as a child who had just received a birthday gift.